Wave, Listen to Me! follows Minare Koda, a twenty-something
waitress in a small restaurant in Sapporo who gets drunk after a bad breakup
with a man who ran away with her life savings. Completely hammered, she begins blabbing
about her present frustrations to the random stranger she’s sitting next to at the
bar. The next day, Minare is shocked to
hear a recording of her bitter, drunken ramblings playing on the radio – which ended up being a relative hit with the listeners. Apparently, the man next to her that night at
the bar was radio producer Kanetsugu Matō, who found Minare’s ability to rant
entertaining. Believing that Minare has
the potential of being a radio personality, Matō recruits and mentors her. Thus, Minare finds herself working as a
waitress in the day, and hosting a program during the wee hours of the
morning – a program that’s designed to be as unpredictable, chaotic, and spontaneous as its
host.
This isn’t necessarily a great
anime. It isn’t for everyone. If I had seen this when I was much younger,
it would have either bored me out of my mind or turned me off with its zany
elements. However, at this point in my
life, I found it enjoyable for I’m absolutely among this show’s target audience.
It’s an anime about the struggles of young
adulthood, and its themes and humor revolves around that. And as a young adult myself, I found these
evoking a pensive mood in me as I watched it – which kicks in with every
episode once the stirring OP plays (it’s one of the three OPs of the season
that I didn’t skip; the other two being Kakushigoto’s
and Kaguya-sama: Love Is War season 2’s).
Minare Koda is an effectively relatable
main character; her predicaments and gaffes
are painfully familiar. As an outcome,
whatever good breaks she gets during the course of the series comes off as
somewhat pleasurably cathartic.
In relation to that, the
strongest aspect of this anime – which one can argue is the thing that carries
this whole show – is the voice acting for Minare. Her seiyu,
Rihu Sugiyama, brings such engrossing and crisp rapid-fire energy to her uttering
of words. Even though I don’t understand
Japanese, I totally bought it that she could kill it in the airwaves with her
gab. I would absolutely listen to Minare
in real life.
Another thing appealing about
this show, which is a big reason why I picked it up in the first place, is that
it features the radio industry – something that is no longer as big and
appreciated as it used be, now that we’re in the age of the Internet and
podcasts and all that. This anime argues
in a rather compelling manner that radio is still a romantic and relevant thing
even in the 21st century.
All in all, for the right kind of
audience, Wave! Listen to Me proves quite
funny, diverting, and even inspiring.
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